


Find You Again

by Whirlwind



Category: Legacies (TV 2018)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Developing Friendships, F/M, Handon, Male-Female Friendship
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-07
Updated: 2020-05-08
Packaged: 2021-02-27 06:13:48
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 12,585
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22162357
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Whirlwind/pseuds/Whirlwind
Summary: Because Landon was technically dead at the time, he never lost his memories of Hope when she jumped into Malivore. Now the real struggle begins as he tries to find a way to help bring back the love of his life, despite his fellow classmates and teachers thinking that he's gone crazy. But he'll find the most unlikely of allies in his mission to save Hope in the form of Lizzie Saltzman.
Relationships: Landon Kirby & Lizzie Saltzman, Landon Kirby/Hope Mikaelson
Comments: 24
Kudos: 124





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> I'd kinda had this idea of a loophole for Landon being able to remember Hope from the start for awhile now, and I really wanted to see him live up to the "I'm always gonna be the guy who fights to find you again." promise, so this fic was born. But I was never sure which character (or characters) I wanted to come around to eventually believing him and helping with that. But then I saw Landon and Lizzie's weird budding friendship lately and thought that they would be an amusing duo for this.

She’s the first thing he thinks about upon being resurrected.

_Hope._

Landon abruptly sits up, ash crumbling down off of his body as he looks around the Triad facility, frantically in search of her. His mind is still a bit fuzzy, as it always is after he first comes back to life, but he _knows_ something is wrong. He can feel it. He just has to remember.

Malivore had started to rise and he and Hope were trying to come up with some sort of plan to stop him. She'd said she had an idea, then they'd kissed (a thought that briefly distracts him for a moment) and then- his hand instinctively goes to rub at the base of his neck as he briefly remembers that last part. The ghost of pain lingers there a moment before quickly dissipating as if it never happened, but the confusion behind her actions still remains.

He then pushes himself up off the floor to stand and approaches the handrail to get a better look at the pit below. What he expects to see is far from what he finds when he looks down. Formerly a giant pit of bubbling black goo that swallowed up anything it touched, it was now nothing but a cavernously empty hole in the ground.

His eyes widen in surprise at the sight. Just what the hell had happened here while he was out? The feeling of uneasiness fills his chest again and a cold fear trickles down the back of his neck traveling down his spine. Where was she?

“Hope! Hope!?” Landon cries out, voice shaky as his brain started imagining worse case scenarios. His words echo off the metal walls right back at him in the otherwise silent facility. He calls out to her again, this time more desperate as his limbs propel him further down the corridor, where he almost trips and falls face first over the discarded bone whip from earlier.

His mind then briefly realizes Clarke's body is also no longer where it had previously been, which somehow didn't surprise him. He files that little tidbit in the back of his mind to think about later, because right now his priority was finding Hope.

Suddenly his thoughts are interrupted as he hears what seems to be a ringtone going off behind him where he'd woken up earlier, and he turns around to find it’s coming from an unfamiliar cellphone on the ground. He walks back over and picks up the device, recognizing the name on the screen.

“Dr. Saltzman?”

“Landon, are you okay? I found a note that said you needed me."

The boy blinks in surprise at that last part, but pushes that curiosity to the side a moment.

“Yeah, I think so. I don’t really know what’s going on, but I can’t find Hope.”

There's a brief pause on the other end before Alaric speaks again.

“Look Landon, I know things have been fairly crazy lately, but things aren’t so bad that you should lose hope.”

Landon scrunches up his nose in confusion at the man’s odd response. If this was meant to be a joke of some sort, it was a really awful attempt at it, not to mention hardly the time for it.

“What? No, not the feeling. The person.” He clarifies impatiently, eyes still searching the building for any signs of his girlfriend.

“What are you talking about, who’s Hope?”

“Hope Mikaelson. Your student. Klaus and Hayley’s daughter.” He could have easily went on describing her, but keeps it short because he was hoping Dr. Saltzman would drop whatever this little routine was he was putting on sooner rather than later.

“Did you by chance hit your head recently?” Alaric inquires, concern creeping into his voice and Landon shakes his head at such a ludicrous question. What on Earth was going on with him?

"How could you possibly forget who Ho-"

It's then that he suddenly realizes it, realizes exactly what she's done and why Dr. Saltzman has no idea what he’s talking about.

Hope had thrown herself into Malivore.

The realization hits him like a gut punch, knocking the air straight out of his lungs and he grabs onto the railing in desperate need of support, phone clattering to the ground in the process.

No... She couldn't have. His eyes stung and he found it terribly difficult to swallow all of a sudden as he started to understand. _'There's always a loophole.'_ Her voice rang out quietly inside his mind.

Hope had jumped into the pit to stop Malivore from rising, to stop the monster from claiming him as his vessel. She had sacrificed herself in order to protect him from his fate, risking everything to save him. He'd already lost his mother to that terrible thing, he couldn't lose Hope too.

The thought of life without her left him feeling a deep ache, an emptiness that was as vast as pit that sat before him. Anger and heartbreak swirl about like a tornado inside his chest. She shouldn't have made this decision by herself. He would have _never_ agreed to this, which probably explains why she did it. They could have found another way to stop Malivore. _Together._ But now she...

_'Don't go where I can't follow.'_

He scrunches his eyes shut and tries to calm his breathing so he could think. Then he remembers something, Malivore was a prison wasn't it? Anything that went into it didn’t die, they were simply just trapped there, right? So then maybe, maybe there was still a chance to get her back. To find her and bring her home again. He refuses to believe that he's lost her forever, that Hope is really gone.

"Landon? Are you still there?" A voice speaks up in the distance drawing him back to reality, and he briefly fumbles to find the phone amongst the ash covered floor to pick it back up.

"Yeah, I'm still here." He answers weakly, head still spinning from all the revelations.

“I’m leaving now, I’ll be there soon. Just hang tight.”

The boy murmurs some semblance of a reply before hanging up the phone and slowly collapsing down onto the floor in exhaustion. He heaves a heavy sigh and buries his face into his hands as he waited.

* * *

The drive back to school was a quiet one. Landon was spent both mentally and physically from the day’s ordeals. Apparently being kidnapped, helping fight off the Headless Horseman and having the love of your life sacrifice herself really starts to take its toll on a guy. It wasn't long before he passes out in the back seat at some point, eventually waking up when they finally arrive back at the Salvatore School.

Landon does his best to try and explain everything that had happened to the equally tired headmaster, who tries his best to comprehend all the new information. He has no problem coming to terms with the truth about Malivore, but still couldn't seem to wrap his mind around Hope existing. He'd asked Dorian to look into her while he was driving to pick up Landon, and the man hadn't been able to find anything in their records about her.

“I know this doesn't make a lot of sense, but I can prove it. I'll show you.” Landon finally tells him.

Alaric heaves a weary sigh but nevertheless follows the young man up the stairs and down the hallway. Landon eventually stops at the room in question and reaches for the handle, throwing open the unlocked door. But when the door swings open and the room comes into view, Landon is shocked to find that it's empty, completely devoid of any and all personal affects that had once filled the place.

“No... that- that’s not possible. This is her room, I know it is.” He says in disbelief as his mind races, trying to make sense of this. Why was there nothing here? How? Landon begins frantically pulling open drawers, searching through the closet and checking under the bed, anything to find the slightest trace of her anywhere. But there was nothing.

"Landon..." Alaric carefully grabs the boy's arm to get him to stop and Landon stares up at him with wide eyed confusion and panic. He opens his mouth to speak but no words come out, he just couldn't understand what was going on.

“Look,” The older man said placing a sympathetic hand onto his shoulder. “It’s been a stressful couple of days, why don’t you just go back to your room and rest a bit more for now. We'll talk more then.”  
  
A dazed Landon simply nods in response, not sure else what to do.

* * *

The next couple of weeks for Landon aren’t easy, between dealing with Raf stuck as a wolf, Dr. Saltzman losing his job and everyone at the school thinking that he had a screw loose because he wouldn’t stop going on about some nonexistent girl. It's not like he's ever been popular here before, but he certainly wasn’t winning himself any new friends now. As for the ones he did have, like MG and Kaleb, they tried to be supportive but even he could tell they doubted his story.

It was a lonely endeavor, but there was no way he was giving up on finding Hope, even if that meant he'd be doing it all by himself. And now that everyone was heading home for summer break, this became even more apparent to him. On the bright side though, at least now he wouldn't have to deal with the secretive whispers and rumors about him that had started up ever since he got back.

But even with all the excitement of summer vacation, it didn't stopped them from getting in their last couple of jabs in as they walk by him as they leave.

_"The boy practically lives in the library now doing research all the time and barely even eats. He's clearly lost it."_

_"All those resurrections must have burnt out his mind."_

_"I heard he's the real reason Ms.Tig left. She saw the signs ages ago but no one believed her and fled for her safety."_

A small part of him can't help but wonder, what if they're right? What if he really is crazy? Maybe his brain is just trying to deal with all the trauma surrounding his fairly screwed up origins and he'd just made the girl up to help cope with it?

Landon shakes his head vigorously. No, what was he talking about? Of course Hope existed. Though he struggles at times to believe it himself, especially when it feels like any trace of Hope Mikaelson had magically disappeared from the world, he knew deep in his soul that she was real. He could feel it with every fiber of his being. He loves this girl. The girl with the teasing smile and lonely eyes, whose bravery and inner strength is unmatched. He'd die a thousand times over to get her back, not matter what anyone else thought.

_"I heard when Triad kidnapped him, they fried his brain."_

_"What's there to fry? I heard it's actually made of mud."_

_"Seems more like a birdbrain if you ask me."_

Unable to listen to it anymore, he pushes past the crowds to get away from their nonsense. "Forget them. You’re not crazy. Just focus on the mission.” He mutters to himself as he wanders down the hallway and into the kitchen. “Then again, I am talking to myself...” He acknowledges wryly.

“Welcome to my world.”

A voice says from behind him, causing him to jump slightly in surprise and he spins around to find Lizzie sitting at the counter, casually eating a large bowl of ice cream.

“Lizzie? You’re still here? I thought that you were going with your mom to Europe?”

She narrows her eyes at the unpleasant reminder and points her spoon at him in annoyance.

“Not that it’s _**any**_ of your business, but there was a change in plans. Josie is going with her instead.” Though she tries to hide it, the disappointment was evident in her voice as well as the sugary indulgence that sat before her. She'd been talking about this trip for weeks, and though Landon was hardly Lizzie's biggest fan, he kinda felt bad for her. Especially after the year the twins have had.

“Oh. Sorry. Well if it makes you feel any better, not exactly having the best day myself."

“Mm, right. Because of your ' _imaginary girlfriend'_. Honestly Frodo, if you’re gonna make up a fake girl you should at least _try_ to make her sound like she's not miles out of your league."

Scratch that, he didn’t feel _that_ bad for her.

Landon’s brow twitches at the word ‘imaginary’ and he frowns deeply. “She’s not imaginary. She’s real. It's just that no one remembers her." As soon as the words leave his mouth he realizes just how pathetic he must sound, no wonder no one believed him. He really did sound like some lonely sad-sack who invented a fake girlfriend.

“The two of you were even friends! Well, friend-ish might actually be a better word for it.” He shakes his head. "It's complicated."

She stares at him dryly, clearly growing bored and he exhales an exhausted breath, growing more desperate for someone to really listen to him instead of just writing him off over and over again. "Look, I'm not- I'm not lying and I'm not crazy. I swear."

For a brief moment Lizzie's expression changes as she looks at him, her usual "resting annoyance face" she wears when dealing with Landon slips for a second. Something briefly flashes in her eyes, sympathy maybe? It was too quick for Landon to tell, because it disappears just as fast as it had come.

“Well, it’s not exactly like you have the best track record when it comes to lying, now do you?” She finally retorts, placing a spoonful of ice cream into her mouth.

“You do know that most of my lies were because of Malivore’s influence over me, right?”

“Sure they were.” She patronizes with a fake smile and Landon rolls his eyes. Why was he even bothering to have this conversation with her? This was utterly pointless. He came in here to get away from all this, not have more piled onto him. Landon is about to turn around and leave when Lizzie speaks up again.

“So what do you plan to do about finding her?" She asks indifferently as she pushes around the chocolate syrup, creating intricate little swirl patterns in her dessert.

"Well, I-" Landon starts to answer her when he suddenly stops to process the question that Lizzie of all people had just asked him. Did he actually hear her right? No, he couldn't have. She had to be messing with him, setting him up just to smack him back down again. Nevertheless, he latches onto the small sliver of hope that maybe she wasn't like a dog to a bone. 

“Wait. Hold on. You- you believe me?”

Lizzie lets out an exasperated sigh, placing the spoon down with a light clatter onto the countertop as she turned towards him.

“Look, I know what it’s like to have people call you crazy and not believe you. It sucks.”

He blinks in surprise at her sudden honesty. Maybe he had been wrong earlier, maybe there was someone else who might know exactly how he was feeling. “Yeah, it does.” He admits.

“I also know how important it is to have someone be your anchor, especially when you find yourself spiraling. And with Raf still stuck as a wolf and 95% percent of the student body away for the summer, it appears that unfortunate task has fallen upon me." She sighs dramatically, shaking her head and placing her hand on her chest as if bracing herself for the burden of the undertaking she's just committed herself to.

"God, the life of a hero is just so stressful." She complains looking up to the heavens and Landon fights the strong urge to roll his eyes again, but stops himself because he’s realized in her own bizarre way, she’s actually being kind of nice to him for once.

"Not to mention, with everyone gone, I'm already bored. And in spite you being about as interesting as a jar of low-fat mayo, I like a good mystery." The blonde admits, which honestly made way more sense to him anyway.

"Thanks?" He replies uncertainly, not quite sure exactly what all this entails, but still somewhat thankful for it. It sure beat the alternative. At least, he hoped it did. Then again... it was Lizzie.

“But this _doesn’t_ mean we’re friends though. Got it?”

“Got it.”

“Because I swear if you tell anyone about this, I will make your life such a living hell that you'll _wish_ you could actually die." She threatens, shooting intense daggers at Landon that made him involuntarily recoil and quickly regret accepting her help. He nods weakly in confirmation and that seems to appease her for now.

Lizzie smiles, then gestures for Landon to take a seat on one of the leather stools at the counter.

“So, tell me more about this girl then, and please try not to blather on like you usually do.”

Landon ignores her insult and proceeds on.

"Well, her name is Hope. She's a Tribrid. She's kinda closed off at first and a bit stubborn at times, but when you get to know her... She's smart, and wicked funny, and is honestly the strongest person I know. She-"

Lizzie groans loudly and smacks her forehead in frustration.

"Did you not hear what I just said? Ugh. Look lover boy, let me stop you right there." Lizzie interrupts impatiently, putting her hand up to cease him from yammering on and rolls her eyes. "I meant something that could actually help us find her, not your overly sappy lovelorn details."

Landon blushes slightly in embarrassment, he hadn't even realized how much he'd been gushing about Hope, but it was kinda hard not to. "Right. Sorry. Well, we were in Triad's facility in Georgia where they keep Malivore. And after we defeated the Headless Horseman, well, more like after _she_ defeated the Headless Horseman, Clarke, who happens to kinda be my brother, threw the last artifact into the pit."

"Wait, time out. There's more of you weird little mud babies running around out there?"

Landon's brow twitches in annoyance at the comment, but he bites his tongue and chooses to ignore it as he presses on with his story. "Anyway, that last item broke the seal keeping Malivore bound and he'd begun to rise. And in order to stop that from happening, I think she threw herself in."

"What do you mean _you think_ , she threw herself in?"

The boy awkwardly chuckles as he begins to explain. “Well, because she uh, killed me before she jumped into Malivore. Which is also why I'm the only one who remembers her, because technically I was dead when it happened. When I woke up, the pit was gone and so was she."

Lizzie raises an eyebrow at that before letting out a snarky retort. “Quite the girlfriend you got there.”

Though Landon knew she hadn't meant that in a good way, he can't help but smile for some reason because the statement couldn't be more true. "Oh, you have no idea."

The blonde brings her hand up to her chin to ponder over the details the young phoenix has given her.

"Well, I guess it’s a start. Time to channel my inner Daphne Blake and solve this thing. And I know just where to start.” She announces, theatrically standing up from her seat, already heading for the door.

"Get a move on Velma, we've got a mystery to crack!" She calls out over her shoulder as Landon sighs and begrudgingly begins to follow her lead.

What exactly had he just gotten himself into?


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter 2 is finally here! Only took me over two months to get it out, lol. Originally this was only supposed to be a two part story, but it felt a little rushed and I wanted to show more of how far Landon was willing to go to help Hope and his friendship with Lizzie starting to develop more, so it turned into a 3 parter. Of course now I'm second guessing the decision, because that's what I do, lol. But anyway, hope you guys enjoy this chapter.

The next couple of weeks don't yield very much in the way of results when it comes to finding a way to help Hope. Their investigative research, and by "their", Landon mostly means himself, as Lizzie sits there filing her nails watching him do most of the reading, doesn't reveal very much. But the blonde does try a handful of magic based things. Some of which prove rather helpful, some of which Landon is certain she's simply doing for her own amusement. Bringing books to life that only chase _him_ around the room isn't really helping anyone, except maybe by improving his cardio.

With the exception of realizing Raf’s wolf predicament must also somehow be linked to Hope, since no one seems to remember how exactly he got stuck that way, there hasn't been all that much progress.

So it isn't much of surprise when Landon starts to get a little desperate in attempts at rescuing Hope from Malivore. Which would explain why he's in the woods on the outskirts of the school, holding a dagger he'd borrowed from the weapons armory inches above his palm.

During his little kidnapping situation with Triad, Clarke had once told him, as Malivore's son, that he was the "blood of his blood". It was the reason why he was able to activate the artifacts that kept the monster bound in the first place. So if the golem's so called blood ran through his veins, maybe that meant he was capable of creating portals too. He had to have some kind of other power besides just resurrecting, right?

At this point, he was willing to try whatever outlandish and far-fetched idea that came along if it meant it could help Hope. So Landon inhales a steadying breath before taking the dagger and slowly slicing diagonally across his left palm. He lets out a small pained hiss and scrunches his eyes shut, squeezing his hand so that the red liquid drips down onto the ground below.

"Come on. Come on." He repeats, eyes shut, silently pleading with the universe for this plan of his to actually work. He tries to imagine the pit forming in his mind, hoping to somehow will the thing into existence. But when he finally reopens his eyes to look, he's met with the disappointing sight of nothing more than red stained dirt.

"Damn it." Landon grumbles in pure frustration. He always knew it was a long shot, but he's seen way crazier plans work in the past. Still, he's not quiet ready to give up on the idea just yet.

“Maybe it just needs more blood.” He contemplates aloud, already preparing to make another cut and give the theory one more try.

"Landon Herbert Kirby! What the hell do you think you're doing!?"

A very loud female voice cuts through his thoughts and Landon spins around in surprise to find Lizzie staring at him with an expression that is equal parts irritated and horrified. Actually, now that he's looking at her, it's a tad more irritated than horrified.

“This isn’t what it looks like." He's quick to try and defend, but she's really not having any of it and the blonde is already stomping her way over to him. "And more importantly, my middle name certainly isn't Herbert." Landon adds in displeasure, face scrunching up at the thought, making Lizzie impatiently roll her eyes.

"I know what hurting yourself looks like." She retorts, ignoring his comment and snatching the dagger out of his hand and holding it away from him. He frowns, but makes no effort to grab it back from her. Trying to take a dagger from an angry, weapon wielding Lizzie Saltzman didn't exactly seem like the smartest idea. He may not have been thinking all that clearly lately, but this was one thing he knew better than to try and do.

“I’m not trying to hurt myself, I'm trying to open up a portal to Malivore." The boy begins to explain, taking his cut hand and clutching the bottom of his cotton shirt to help stop the bleeding for now.

Lizzie cocks her head, stares at him blankly a moment before finally opening her mouth to say, "That's the dumbest thing I've ever heard."

Landon groans loudly, taking his uninjured hand and running it down his face in annoyance as he began to pace about. A sense of powerlessness rises up in his chest that threatens to overtake him if he doesn't stay moving to keep it at bay.

The blonde places a hand on her hip, ready to drop some truth on him. "And what was your plan if you did create a portal, huh? Go in after her and turn yourself into Malivore's little mud puppet? What were you thinking?"

"I don't know!" He shouts frantically, eyes wide in uncertainty and distress. His reaction catches Lizzie by surprise, making her realize that perhaps she'd been a tad too harsh with him, especially in his current condition.

"I... I don't know." Landon repeats again, quieter this time, his shoulders sagging helplessly as his gaze falls to the ground. "I just... I have to do something."

She tips her head some as she takes in the lovesick boy standing a couple of feet away and can't help but feel a little bad for him. She'd done plenty of stupid things in the name of love, or what she thought was love anyway, but this was on a level even she hadn't ever quite reached.

“You really love her, don’t you?” Lizzie asks, her voice surprisingly sincere and face uncharacteristically thoughtful when it came to the bothersome bird boy.

He exhales a shaky, emotion-filled breath as he looks up at the blonde. “Yeah, I do. I have to find her. I- I can't lose her."

Lizzie never thought she'd **_ever_** think this, because honestly the thought it of it actually makes her inwardly shutter, but she's a little jealous of Landon Kirby. To have a love like that with someone who actually loves you back. All her relationships, if you could even call them that, had been absolute trainwrecks. That whole situation with Raf months ago was a clear example of her track record. She couldn't help still feeling like an idiot every time she thought back on it. She knew what happened hadn't been her fault, but it left her wondering if anyone out there would ever be able to handle her and all her crazy. And now with the merge slowly approaching, would she ever even _have_ the chance to find out?

Lizzie groans mentally. Those thoughts were better left to be dealt with later and preferably over something sugar-loaded to numb the pain.

Landon sighs, lightly banging the back of his head up against a nearby oak tree. "If Hope was here, she'd know what to do. How to save the day like she always does." He smiles faintly at the thought of her before exhaling a dejected breath and momentarily shutting his eyes. "I just... I wish I could talk to her."

That's when Lizzie suddenly has an idea.

"Maybe we can make that happen."

Landon archs a curious brow at the statement, standing up straighter. "What? Really? How?"

"Don't get too excited, hobbit." She informs him, holding up her hand to ease him back. "Miss Tig gave me these prisms that allow you to have a simulated conversation with someone. You wouldn't exactly be talking to her per se, but it would be your self conscious manifesting as her." Lizzie stops for a moment, hadn't she had this conversation before? The thought lingers for a beat before she shakes her head in dismissal of it.

Landon shrugs his shoulders, still trying to wrap his head around the rather odd premise. "It's worth a shot."

* * *

After getting his wound cleaned up by the nurse, because Lizzie would otherwise kill him if he got blood on her prism, Landon takes the crystal up to his room for some privacy. Quietly shutting the door behind him, he removes the crystal from the pocket of his hoodie and places it down onto the bed.

He tips his head to the side a moment as he stares at the object. Lizzie had explained how this was all suppose to work, but he couldn't help feeling a tad skeptical about it. In his mind, he expects this to look like some hologram projector straight out of Star Wars, with the image tinted light blue and the occasional static flicker. If he's being honest, he doesn't suspect it will be all that helpful.

"Here goes nothing." Landon murmurs with a shrug as he shuts his eyes. A small gust of wind proceeding to swirl past him and he slowly reopens them to see what looks like the real life Hope Mikaelson sitting atop his mattress.

"Hey." She greets with a gentle half smile, her voice instantly creating a warm feeling within his chest.

"Hey." He returns awkwardly, blinking wildly in disbelief as he takes her in. He honestly didn't think the hologram would be this realistic looking. On instinct, his body moves towards her, wanting nothing more than to hold her in in his arms. But he has to quickly stop and remind himself that it isn't really her, causing the earlier warmth to be replaced with a dull, longing ache.

"So, are we gonna sit here all night having a staring contest or did you have something you wanted to talk about?" She teases, tipping her head in the direction of the bed as a gesture for him to sit down.

"Right. Yeah. Sorry, I just... I'm not really sure how this whole prism thing works."

He's makes his way over to the bed and carefully sits across from her so that they're face to face. He's not really sure why he feels nervous, after all, he's actually just talking to himself. It's all kind of weird when he really thinks about it, but it's always nice to see her face again, he's missed it.

"Just relax. It's not like you've never talked to yourself before." 

Landon concedes a small nod in agreement. "True. Though I've never been quite so pretty."

She smiles in amusement at his go-to self deprecating wit, but is well aware of what he's really doing.

"You're stalling." The hologram gently reminds him, causing him to exhale and push forward with the conversation.

"Alright, I'll get straight to the point... I need you to tell me how to save you."

Prism Hope frowns at the request. "Pretty sure that's not how this works. I'm _your_ subconscious, remember? I only know as much as you do."

The phoenix leans back a bit and lets out a frustrated sigh. "I know, but I still thought I'd give it try." As much as Landon knew Hope, the fact is, he still doesn't have Hope's extensive supernatural knowledge, so of course fake her wouldn't have the answers he was looking for.

He's still fairly new to this whole universe, and as helpful as research can be, it doesn't trump personal experience, which Hope had plenty off. Her family had been around for centuries, acquiring valuable information that couldn't be found in books. But he couldn't exactly reach out to any of them for help when none of them even remembered the young Mikaelson girl in question. Once again, it was another dead end when it came to helping her.

"So much for, What Would Hope Mikaelson Do?" Landon murmurs to himself, momentarily thinking that would make a pretty great t-shirt.

He's not really sure what he was thinking when he thought this would be a good idea. Maybe he hoped that seeing her would cause a plan to magically spring forth from his head and finally help him get somewhere in all this. Get him close to finally being able to help her. But he's no better off than he was 20 minutes ago and he can't say he's all that surprised. He feels like he's done nothing but fail her.

"Was that it then?" She asks curiously, interrupting his thoughts.

He wants to say no, wants to pretend she's the real thing and keep talking to her for hours. Wants to tell her how much he loves her and how much she means to him, but he knows it's probably not for the best to keep to indulging in this fantasy any longer. Not when the real Hope is still trapped somewhere out there.

"Yeah. I guess that just means I'm gonna have to keep trying whatever it takes to get her back."

She arches her brow at his words and looks down at the bandaged hand he's currently nursing on his lap.

"No more of that sort of stuff, I hope."

She nods in the direction of his injury and Landon pulls his arm closer to his body.

"I'm not giving up on her. So if I have to, then yeah. I'm gonna keep fighting to find her."

"You can't be serious?" She retorts harshly, eyes narrowed in an expression Landon recognizes from when Hope thinks he's going to try something risky and probably stupid. He can't help be a little offended, but it also makes it clear how accurate this manifestation of her really is.

"We both know I am." He replies evenly, his determination refusing to waver.

"Then you also know that I wouldn't want you to risk your life in order to save mine!" She shouts, gaze firm and jaw set tightly in defiance at his decision.

"Kinda like you did with me when you decided to jump into that pit!?" He shoots right back, words coming out far angrier than he expected, catching them both genuinely by surprise. Landon swallows awkwardly, turning away from her, unable to look the hologram in the face.

"Guess I... I've been bottling some things up." He admits sheepishly, hand rubbing at the base of his neck as he makes the realization.

She cocks her head some, a small amused smirk on her lips. "Apparently." Prism Hope's expression then begins to soften and her tense shoulders relax as they start to get to the root of it. "Ready to finally talk about what's _really_ bothering you?"

Landon slowly exhales through his nose, mentally sorting through his feelings before finally bringing his eyes up to meet hers.

"It's true, at first I was mad about what you did back at Triad. You made a decision that affected both of us without me. And I know you thought I wouldn't remember but, even if I hadn't, you're such a huge part of my life that there was absolutely no way I wouldn't have known something important to me was missing."

He lets out another sigh. "But the truth is... I already forgave you." He confesses softly. "The real person I'm angry with, is me. This is all my fault. I'm the one who started this whole Malivore mess in the first place! I'm the one who brought monsters to the school, all of this drama into your life. Forced you to make a choice you _never_ should of had to make. Maybe if I'd just been stronger, or smarter, or braver, maybe I wouldn't have lost you."

Landon's voice breaks a little at that last part and he has to swallow hard to clear the shakiness from his throat.

"Besides, we both know this world sure as hell needs you more than it will ever need me, the hapless phoenix boy with no powers." He admits honestly, causing Hologram Hope to frown. But before she can contest that statement, as the real Hope would, Landon keeps going.

"It's just that I finally have all things I've ever wanted in my life: I know where I come from, I have friends and a place to belong. But without you, it-it all just feels empty." The emotions building up in his chest make his eyes sting and he carelessly rubs at them to halt their progress.

The Hologram watches him sympathetically, remaining quiet for a moment before finally choosing to speak.

"You might not want to hear this, but this isn't your fault." She attempts to convince him, but Landon frowns pitifully, quickly shaking his head in disagreement, refusing to look at her. Of course it was his fault. It had to be. Hope couldn't help but try to save everyone she could, to make up for all the ones in the past she wasn't able to. And seeing how he was a perpetual danger magnet, she couldn't help but come to his rescue all the time. That's just who she was.

"The truth is it's easier for you blame yourself than to accept the fact that someone actually, truly loved you."

The accuracy in her words hit him so hard that he suddenly forgets to breath for a moment. Hope had told him she loved him right before everything had gone down and he was still in disbelief that it had really happened. He's known for a good while now that he was in love with her, and there were a number of times he'd almost said it first, but fear wound up getting the better of him. It was practically impossible for someone not to fall in love with Hope Mikaelson. But him on the other hand...

"I'll never understand why she picked a guy like me." Landon murmurs softly, a lifetime of rejection and feelings unwanted clinging to each and every word. A mother who gave him up as a baby. Foster parents who couldn't get rid of him fast enough. A constant target for bullies. What on earth could Hope Mikaelson possibly ever see in him?

"I can't answer that for you, but you need to trust her. You're not in this battle alone. Believe she's fighting tooth and nail to get back here to you and everyone else. She's a fighter, and she's always come through before, hasn't she?"

Landon can't help but nod along in agreement. She right, there's no way Hope was just sitting around somewhere accepting her fate. She's wasn't some damsel in distress, she was the hero.

"Alright. But I'm still not giving up though."

Hologram Hope smiles at his reply.

"She wouldn't expect anything less. But Phoenix or not, just try not to get yourself killed."

Landon chuckles. "No promises."

* * *

Later on, when Landon comes down stairs for a glass of water, he finds Lizzie boredly lounging on the couch dressed in her pajamas with a bag of chocolate chip cookies at her side watching TV. With the school practically empty for the summer, save for a small handful of students and staff, they all tended to have a free run of the place after hours. But even still, the sight of the blonde made Landon quirk up a curious eyebrow at this particular scene before him.

Lizzie regards him with her usual lack of interest. "What?" She asks between a muffled bite of cookie.

He tilts his head slightly. "You okay? You seem like you’re hitting those cookies pretty hard."

She narrows her eyes sharply, shooting daggers at him for his comment. "If you even _think_ about making a fat joke, I'll set every crappy little thing you own on fire."

Landon makes a face, honestly offended she thinks he'd do something like that.

"What? No. It's just... I noticed you did the same thing when you learned you weren't going to Europe with your mom, so I thought maybe something was bothering you."

Lizzie stares at him with mild annoyance for his fairly acute observation. This summer has been harder on her than she cares to admit ever since she learned about the merge. It's been almost a week since she's last been able to talk to Josie, and she was sincerely missing the comfort her other half. And as for her dad, that was a whole different story. Between the drinking/wallowing combo over being voted out, and him looking for a new job, he hadn't exactly been the best source of emotional support either in all this. Plus with MG away for the summer with Kaleb, she didn't even have him to lean on either.

Everyone was essentially gone in one shape or form, and she couldn't help feeling a bit lonely. It was all just a lot to deal with at times. Nevertheless, she was hardly desperate enough to seek help from Bilbo Baggins here.

"Nope. Everything's just peachy. So off with you then, go take your little mophead elsewhere." The blonde dismisses him with a curt wave of her hand, turning her focus back to the television.

But Landon continues to stand there in spite the brush off and shrugs plainly in reply. "All I'm saying is that you've been stuck listening to my problems for the past few weeks, the least I can do is hear yours."

"Which reminds me, I should really start charging you by the hour for my stellar services." She's quick to quip, fully choosing to ignore his offer. But it seems clear the boy isn't going to drop this, much to her annoyance. Damn him and his concern for other people.

Lizzie groans loudly, rolling her eyes so dramatically that it actually looks painful. "Look, I know in your own little hobbit way you're trying to be helpful, but we're not friends and we're sure as hell not gonna have some heart to heart moment." The blonde states bluntly, before eventually exhaling a heavy sigh and letting the edge in her voice lessen slightly as she adds, "But if you promise to friggin **shut up** , I'll let you stay and watch the rest of the movie."

Taking a moment to process and decipher that roller coaster of a conversation, the phoenix finally nods. "Deal."

Landon then plops down on the opposite end of the couch and reaches over for a cookie from the tray sitting on the cushion between them. In response, Lizzie aggressively swats his hand away. "Ow!" He whines, swiftly pulling his hand back with a pout.

"Back off, these are mine." She threatens sternly. "If you want something, you can have Josie's gross ass non dairy ice cream in the freezer that she bought before she left."

Landon frowns at the thought, not exactly finding the offer all that appealing. But he's forgotten to eat again, so he actually considers trying it. He knows he should probably grab something healthier to munch on, but he just doesn't have energy for it tonight. In his mind, he can already hear Hope scolding him for not taking better care of himself, and he mentally promises to do better tomorrow.

"Fine." He concedes, heaving himself off the couch to head into the kitchen. Reaching for the freezer, he digs around and pulls the half eaten pint from the freezer and grabs a spoon from the drawer before returning back to the main room. Removing the lid, he eyes the contents suspiciously.

"Is it suppose to be that color?" He questions aloud, face scrunching up as he pokes it with a spoon. Lizzie briefly leans over to get a peak at it, turning up her nose at the sight.

“It looks like something a cat would throw up.” She comments before smirking as she takes another bite of her delicious cookie.

Landon glowers at her. “Rude." He mutters.

Lizzie huffs a laugh and grabs the remote, ready to start back up the movie she'd begun earlier.

"So what are we watching?" Landon questions curiously, before taking a tentative bite of the so called ice cream. Turns out it's actually not as bad as it looks, or perhaps he's just so hungry that he really doesn't care. He's not sure.

"We’re watching: Stop talking, this is the good part."

The boy raises his hands up apologetically. "Alright, alright. Sorry."

Settling back into the sofa, Lizzie presses play and the two begin watching the film. She takes a brief moment to glance over at Landon and thinks to herself, _'maybe being friends with the hobbit wouldn't be the **worst** thing ever.'_

"So who's that guy?" He asks a minute later, pointing at the screen, causing the blonde to smack herself in the face and groan at the interruption.

On second thought, maybe it was.


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It took a while, but I finally finished the last part of this story! Thanks for sticking with me all this time, hope you guys enjoy!

Landon rolls a small pebble between his thumb and forefinger before letting it loose from his grip and sending it quietly into the lake before him. As it drops, it creates small ripples that move outward before slowly returning back to the still blanket of blue it normally is. He pulls his knees a little closer to his chest and lets out a small sigh as he glances longingly at the empty spot beside him on the dock. The spot where Hope usually sits.

He can't help but secretly wish that'll she magically turn up here at their place like she has in the past. That she'll just plop down right next to him, knowing smile on her face and say his name. God he misses her voice. He misses everything about her. The warmth of her touch. The feel of her lips pressed against his. The sound of her laughter. The way she feels like home whenever he's with her. A feeling he'd never known before until she came along.

He's half tempted to use the crystal again, just to see her. But it always leaves his mouth with a bittersweet taste, and it only makes him miss the real thing even more. Summer was almost over at this point, and yet it somehow felt likes years. He could only imagine how Hope was fairing all this time. He remembers the monsters desperation to reclaim the artifacts, all so that they might be granted their freedom from that wretched place, and his heart aches for what Hope must be experiencing there.

The sudden creaking sound of movement from the wooden planks behind him, draws him out of his thoughts and his heart races for a moment at the prospect that somehow it's Hope. But when he turns back around, the disappoint is written all over his face when he finds the all too familiar blonde standing there instead.

"What are you doing out here, trying to make friends with the Loch Ness Monster in the lake?" Lizzie asks, hand on her hip, eyebrow raised as she surveys the pathetic sight before her.

Landon shakes his head. "No, I- Wait, seriously?"

She rolls her eyes at just how easy it is to dupe him. He could at least _try_ to be less gullible, make it more of a challenge for her. "Of course not, loser." Lizzie retorts impatiently, stepping closer, but choosing not to sit down because she certainly isn't gonna let this filthy dock ruin her outfit.

"Me and Hope used to come out here sometimes and talk. It was kinda our spot." Landon admits. Though things have gotten better between the two of them, he's still not fond of telling Lizzie these kinds of personal things. He's convinced that he's just giving her more ammo on him to use in the future.

“Smart girl. If she ever got bored enough with your stories, she could always just drown herself in the lake.”

 _'Apparently the future is now.'_ , Landon thinks to himself with a labored sigh, as he rolls his eyes and turns his attention back to the body of water in front of him.

"No offense Lizzie, but I'm not really in the mood for your jabs today. So if you wouldn't mind, could you go back inside and bother someone else. "

He usually doesn't have the nerve to stand up to the fearsome blonde, but he's honestly just so frustrated by his continued lack of progress with his search to help Hope that it just slips out. Try as they might, they just keep hitting one brick wall after another. It's disheartening to say the least and it hasn't left him in the best of moods as of late.

"Hmph. Excuse me for checking on you." She mutters disdainfully, folding her arms over her chest.

"Sorry." He's quick to apologize as he shakes his head. "I just... I'm mad at myself, that's all. The only _power_ I have is coming back from the dead, which isn't helping anyone." He groans, running a hand through his hair. "I feel completely useless."

Lizzie's quiet a moment before she decides to respond.

"You're not _completely_ useless. Predominately useless? Oh, definitely. No doubt about it. I mean, you are the group's de facto damsel in distress whose ass we have to save on a weekly basis."

An offended Landon slowly turns back to look at her, eyes narrowed in confusion at what point she's trying to make.

"Is this suppose to be a pep talk or a putdown? Because it's really feeling more like the latter."

"Let me finish." She interrupts, holding up her hand to make him stop talking. "But... _every once in a while_ , you prove that you don't _totally_ suck."

Landon stares at her blankly, blinking on occasion. This was probably going to be the closest thing to a compliment that he was every going to get from Lizzie Saltzman. It doesn't exactly make him feel much better, but it doesn't make him feel worse either, so he'll take what he can get. She means well, assumedly.

"Thanks... I guess?" The boy sighs, shoulders sagging tiredly in some semblance of defeat. He wasn't ever going to give up, but it was hard not to feel like he's failed her.

"Aren't you supposed to be like, Mr. Optimism or whatever? What's with all the negativity suddenly?"

The phoenix shakes his head and frowns deeply.

“Because I... I'm secretly terrified that I don’t even know if she’s alive." He confesses, voice raw with intense emotions of fear and desperation. Landon hadn't wanted to admit it, or even acknowledge that particular concern that had been slowly but surely gnawing away at him day after day. None of them knew the extant of Malivore's powers, what he was capable of doing, what kinds of torture he might be putting her through. Hope was strong, but Malivore was like nothing they'd ever faced before.

He scrambles to his feet, nervous energy getting the better of him. "She's been stuck in there for months! Thinking the entire world has forgotten her, that no one is coming for her! What if she's hurt? What if when jumping in she actually destroyed Malivore and herself in the process, and there's nothing left to save!?"

Lizzie can see he's quickly overwhelming himself, and she puts her hands up in a placating matter in an effort to try and get him to slow down.

"Hey. You need to breathe, okay?"

But he barely even registers what she's said, his mind is too busy going a hundred miles an hour with worst case scenarios. They messily spill off his tongue in rapid succession, breathing becoming erratic. He's spiraling. Badly. Lizzie knows firsthand what that's like, so logically she should know how to calm him down. But the thing is, it's not that simple. Because his panic is making her anxious in return, clouding the sensible part of her brain.

She does know that she needs to do something, and fast to snap him out of this. So she does the first thing that comes to mind. Which unfortunately for Landon, turns out to be forcefully shoving him backwards straight into the lake. It's a bit of an extreme move to say the least, but Lizzie hopes the cold water will shock him out of his current state. It's worked for her in the past.

He hits the water with a tremendous splash, and for a brief moment, Lizzie is a little proud of her own strength. His body sinks below the surface and she waits for him to swim back up for air. Only, he doesn't.

Over a minute has gone by now and there is still no sign of him.

“Haha. Very funny, Kirby. You can come up now. This joke is getting real old.” Lizzie crosses her arms over her chest, impatiently tapping her foot against the dock as she waits for the phoenix to resurface. But as she watches, the water continues to remain eerily still. Where is he?

She feels a small bubble of panic as more time passes and he doesn't reemerge.

“Landon...!?” She calls out a little louder this time, only to be met with silence. Just then, a vague thought in the recesses of her mind comes to the forefront. Didn’t someone once tell her that Landon couldn’t swim?

"Crap." She mutters with an annoyed sigh.

The next thing Lizzie knows, the lake is engulfed in a massive fire and a pair of hands are reaching up to grab the edge of the dock. The sight makes her back up and she sees Landon begin to pull himself up out of the water. Out of breath, he slowly manages to push himself onto his feet.

Lizzie grimaces slightly, situation awkward. She didn't mean to kill him. Though if she was being honest, it's not like she hasn't thought about it before a few times. But this time it was **_definitely_ **an accident.

The blonde expects him to be super pissed at her, but instead he looks... happy? Like, weirdly happy. Just how hard had he hit his head on the way down? She tips her head in confusion and squints at the soaking wet young man standing before her, baffled by his behavior.

Before she's able to say anything, he beats her to it.

“I saw her!" Landon exclaims, suddenly. "She couldn’t see me, but she was there. She’s alive, Lizzie! She's really alive!” He grabs her by the shoulders, shaking her in boundless excitement that can’t be contained, smiling like a complete and total idiot.

She tries to comprehend what he's saying, but all this movement is starting to make her nauseous. Not to mention, he's now getting muddy water all over her outfit.

“Get your wet mitts off me, bird boy!” The blonde demands and he immediately lets go upon realizing, but it does little to diminish his overflowing joy.

Recomposing herself, she takes a breath and tries to go at this again. "What happened?"

Landon tries to reign in his excitement, so he can actually speak a bit more coherently this time.

"When I died, I went somewhere. Or maybe my mind did? I'm not really sure, I can't really explain it, but I saw Hope. She's okay. She's alive."

"And you're sure it wasn't just some, 'life flashing before your eyes' type thing because you died?" Lizzie questions.

He's quick to shake his head. "No, because I also unfortunately saw Clarke there too. And there's no way that guy makes the reel of things I care about enough to see before I die." He has no idea how his brother wound up in Malivore too, but he suspects it's likely Hope's handiwork. When Landon hadn't seen his body after he woke up, he'd just assumed the guy had ran off. Apparently that wasn't the case.

* * *

"What's with you?" Clarke suddenly asks Hope when he notices she’s stopped walking, and is now looking around for some reason. He thinks perhaps it's another rogue monster coming their way, since the barriers are still down. So he goes on high alert, eyes ready and ears peeled for whatever's found them this time.

But there's nothing. No sounds of hoof beats or claws, growls or beating wings. Just silence. Clarke frowns in confusion and turns his focus back to the Tribrid who still appears frozen in place.

“Earth to Hope!” He shouts, finally getting her attention this time. Her head whips back around to look it him, her mind clearly having been somewhere else.

"Huh?” She blinks, somewhat dazed. “Oh. Uh, nothing. I just..." Hope hesitates, chewing at her lip. "Felt like I was being watched or something.”

Clarke huffs out a dark laugh. "Of course we are. Malivore is literally watching our every move in here. Enjoying our relentless torture. Especially mine." He adds bitterly, running an annoyed hand through his hair.

"Right." Hope replies distantly with a slight nod. Clarke eyes her suspiciously, but chooses to ignore her odd behavior for now and continues to move on ahead.

Hope lingers behind for a moment, giving one more quick glance around. Clearly being stuck here for so long had to be getting to her. There was no way what she was currently thinking could be possible, right? Of course not. Still, she can't help but find herself quietly asking the question into the endless abyss anyway.

"Landon...?"

* * *

It's later that night when Landon is startled awake by the sound of his door suddenly being thrown open, testing the limits of the hinges capabilities to keep the large hunk of wood on the frame. Thinking it might be some sort of monster again, he scrambles for the first thing he can find to use to defend himself, which just so happens to be a lightsaber prop. Flopping to his feet after practically getting tied up in his own bed sheets, he assumes a defensive stance in preparation of what will come through the door.

He swallows hard and braces himself for the terrifying creature coming for him as he hears the sound of footsteps growing closer. When the shadowed figure moves into the light from the window, he can finally see exactly what he's dealing with. What he finds is still terrifying, but it certainly isn't a monster.

"Lizzie!?" He exhales in immediate relief, shoulders sagging, lowering his makeshift weapon back down to his side. "What the hell?"

"Chill out, R2Dork2." She snarks dryly, hand on her hip as she stands there dressed in her pj's. "I come bearing an amazing idea."

The boy stares at her blankly, still half asleep and border-lining on cranky if he was being honest. It was well past midnight and he was still trying to recover from his resurrection earlier, which tends to leave him fairly drained afterwards. But then his brain begins to process her words, and what she might be referring to, and he can't help the optimism that creeps into his chest. If it's about who he thinks it is, to hell with what time it is.

"To find Hope?"

"No, to rob the Mystic Grill." She rolls her eyes dramatically. "Of course to find Hope! We could do a locator spell."

Landon rubs tiredly at his face as he plops down on the edge of his bed and turns the light on beside him, a yawn escaping his mouth as he stares up at her through half closed eyes. "We already tried that before, remember? We couldn't find anything that belonged to her to use for it." Which he still honestly doesn't understand. Where had all of her stuff gone to? He can't find anything anywhere, and it secretly kills him that he has nothing to remember her by but his own memories.

"I know. But I just remembered my sister has this book that she got from,'she who will not be named', that just might do the trick." And by 'just remembered', Lizzie actually means that she tore her room apart trying to find the source of that damn scratching noise she's been hearing for the past few nights. The culprit turned out to be none other than that godforsaken book.

Landon furrows his brows in confusion at the overall vagueness of her statement. “From who?”

Lizzie lets out a loud exasperated huff and narrows her eyes at him in annoyance. “What part of ‘she who will not be named’ do you not understand?"

Landon exhales a tired sigh. It was far too late to be having this argument. He really didn't need the details.

"Fine. So where is it?"

The blonde pulls out a burgundy colored book from under her arm, featuring the word "Incendia" on the cover, and shows it to him.

“What is it?” Landon asks curiously, as he gives the object a once over. It doesn't look particularly magical, quite the opposite really. It looks like something you could easily buy at a craft store. Gold star stickers adorn the book, and in cursive, the name 'Penelope Park' is written at the top, answering Landon's earlier question.

“Apparently evil incarnate herself, gave out a bunch of pens for Christmas that turned out to be enchanted and linked to this book. So anything written using said pens, winds up right in here.”

Landon frowns, suddenly feeling rather violated by the whole concept. “Talk about a major invasion of privacy.”

Lizzie smirks. "Finally, something we can actually agree on. Unfortunately though, it’s proven to be rather handy. It’s how we learned about the merge.” She admits as she begins causally riffling through the pages.

Landon shifts awkwardly, glancing between her and the book, debating whether to broach the subject or not. It must still be hard on her, knowing that, especially now with Josie thousands of miles away over in Europe. "So uh, how are you handling all that by the way? The merge."

Lizzie looks up briefly, eyes failing to mask a quiet fear that resides there. "This had been a good distraction." She confesses honestly, but says nothing further.

The truth was, there was a ticking clock hanging over both their heads. For Lizzie, on her 22nd birthday she'd either wind up losing herself or her sister if they didn’t manage to somehow find a way to stop the merge in time. And though the twins might have agreed to not talk about it until they had real solutions, it was on Lizzie's mind constantly because she was convinced she was far too broken to ever survive the ordeal if it came down to it. To her it was only a matter of time.

And for Landon, he knew he couldn't spend the rest of his life trying to outrun his father’s plans for him. Malivore would undoubtedly come for him, his unnatural creation of a son, just like he did with the artifacts. How long could his friends try to protect him before the inevitable finally happened? Before _he_ became the monster they would have to stop? How long could he keep putting them all in danger?

It was all a lot to handle, especially for two teenagers. An inevitable race against the clock for their lives. A looming presence that they both chose to ignore the best they could, for the time being.

"You know, if you ever need any help with research or whatever with the merge, I'm here for you guys."

"Hmph. Please, as if we'd ever need help from a walking chia pet. My sister and I are two smart, strong women who are completely capable of saving ourselves. We've got this."

Landon doesn't argue with that as he takes a seat down on the floor as they begin to set up.

"But... thanks Landon, for the offer."

He quirks his head to the side in mild surprise. "Did you actually just call me Landon?"

She rolls her eyes at him. "Don't get used to it, mud boy. Now here, go see if you can find something of hers that she's written, so we can use it for the spell."

His eyes widen slightly at the realization. He feels pretty uncomfortable at the thought of going through Hope's personal entries without her permission. But if it meant he'd be able to finally find her, then he'd just have to do it. He sent out a mental apology to Hope and to anyone else whose journal entries he was about to read, before taking a deep breath and beginning to flip through.

An array of different stories flitter by, and he even catches some of his own pages in there, much to his embarrassment. But he presses ahead, looking for something of Hope's. It takes a minute, but he finally manages to find one.

"This." He points down, easily recognizing the elegant handwriting. "That's hers."

Lizzie nods, taking the book back from him and begins prepping what she needs to conduct the spell. It's interesting to watch, but Landon really doesn't understand any of it. In spite his curiosity, he decides not the bother her with questions. At the moment, he's more focused on the results anyway, so he lets her do her thing.

“That... That can't be right.” Lizzie announces, brows scrunching together as she stares down at the map before her. 

“What? What is it?” Landon leans forward trying to get a better view as a mark begins to slowly appear on the paper.

She looks up at him. “This says that she's here, on school grounds."

Landon's brows shoot up to his forehead. "What!? How is that possible?"

The blonde shrugs helplessly, double checking the map that sits on the floor. She knows she did the spell right, but something has to be wrong. It doesn't make sense.

Landon tries to process what that could possibly mean. Perhaps it was just a fluke, after all, the book did contain dozens and dozens of other people’s work. Maybe that had somehow affected the results. But what if it wasn’t a mistake? No matter how unlikely, he couldn’t just simply ignore it. He had to check it out.

"Well, what are we waiting for? Let's go." Landon quickly pushes himself off the hardwood, any earlier tiredness all but evaporated, as he heads for the door. He's halfway down the hall when he finally realizes something, his bare feet skidding to a rough halt as he does so.

"Forgetting something?" He hears Lizzie call from the doorway, waving the map back and forth in her hand.

Landon laughs sheepishly. “Whoops."

* * *

Lizzie throws on a quick change of clothes to go out into the cool summer night, well, quick by her standards anyway, Landon's not so much. And the duo heads off in search of answers.

The maps leads them into the woods that surround the school, and the darkness doesn't exactly making any of this easy. It's not like they really have any idea what exactly they should be looking for. Would they find Hope wandering about here? Maybe a way to get to her perhaps? It was hard to say which, but hopefully they'll know it when they see it.

Landon takes the lead, pushing his way through the trees and shrubbery when he hears the blonde call out suddenly, causing him to spin around.

"Ick! Gross. I think I just stepped in animal poop." Lizzie grimaces, scrunching her eyes shut in complete and utter disgust as she feels something squishy underneath her shoe.

Landon peers down and notices that whatever she's managed to step in is actually gurgling, and is slowly drawing her shoe deeper into it. His eyes quickly widen as he recognizes the all too familiar sight. He looks around and suddenly realizes where they are. The place looked so different at night than it did in the day.

"It actually worked..." He quietly murmurs in astonishment. His blood had opened up a portal to Malivore. A very small portal, but a portal no less.

He then quickly remembers that Lizzie is still standing in it, and swiftly yanks her back by the arm, her shoe slipping off her foot in the process. It's then gradually absorbed into the dark muck below.

"Hey!" She shouts, pulling away from his grasp and immediately turning around to yell at him. "Those are my favorite pair of boots, and they cost me over 150 dollars! You're paying for that!"

A look of complete disbelief consumes his face and he stares at her, mouth agape at her reaction.

"I just stopped you from getting sucked into Malivore!"

The blonde briefly glances down at the puddle, before looking back at him and rolling her eyes. "Oh please, that thing is the size of a pancake. As if anything besides a squirrel could fit through that thing. I know I'm thin, but even _I'm_ not _that_ thin."

Landon exhales an annoyed sigh. "Why are you even wearing expensive shoes out here anyway?"

"It goes with the outfit!" She retorts, as if it were the most obvious thing in the world. "But considering the walking fashion disaster I'm currently talking to, that must be a foreign concept for you."

The boy frowns, narrowing his eyes at her. But before he can respond, the puddle begins to gradually glow, catching both of their attention.

“What did you do!?” Lizzie demands in an accusatory tone as she points to the portal.

“What!? I- I didn’t do anything!” He stammers, carefully backing away a safe distance from the thing.

“Oh yeah? Then why the heck is it suddenly glowing like that now!? Hmm?”

Landon stares at her bewildered. “How should I know! You're the one who lost a shoe in it!”

"Because of you!" She yells back.

Landon groans in frustration at the ridiculousness of their current argument. They had way bigger things to concern themselves with right now than Lizzie's shoe, like what was about to come out of the mini Malivore pit.

The glow began to grow even brighter, forcing the pair to have to shield their eyes from it. When the bright light eventually fades, they find an auburn haired girl on the ground facing away from them. The girl in question lets out a huff and flips her hair out of her face as she regains her bearings. As she sits up and rubs her head, Landon moves to get a better view of the young woman. If he didn't know better, he'd say she looks an awful lot like-

“Hope?”

She looks up in wide eyed surprise at the sound of her own name, and even more so, by the person who's saying it. Her heartbeat quickens in her chest and she cautiously pushes herself to her feet, unable to believe what she's seeing.

“Landon?”

"Hope!" He clumsily rushes over to her, tripping over his own feet in his haste to close the distance between them. He envelops a stunned Hope in his arms, pulling her close and burying his face into the crook of her neck. It takes her mind a moment to process, but Hope soon returns his embrace wholeheartedly, eyes welling up with emotions.

She'd been afraid that she was never going to get out of that place. Afraid she'd never get back home to her friends, her family and most of all, to Landon. She'd fiercely clung to that hope of seeing him again, even if he didn't know who she was.

“Wait. I don’t understand.” She pulls back to look up at him, a mixture of relief and confusion displayed in her features as she tries to make sense of things. “You remember me? How- how is that even possible? I jumped into the pit, everyone was supposed to forget me.”

Landon tips his head slightly, hint of a smile on his lips. "Remember that little thing you did to me before you jumped in? Which we should _probably_ talk about later by the way..."

Hope squirms awkwardly at the reminder, a pang of guilt hitting her. But it's clear by his teasing tone that he's already forgiven her for it.

"Sorry about that." She whispers, and he dismissively shakes his head. "It's okay. But because of that, I was able to retain all my memories." He chuckles. "Perks of being dead sometimes, I guess. But I haven't stopped looking for you since the moment I woke up.”

Hope smiles softly, touched by his efforts. “You have?”

“Of course." He replies, as if there was ever any doubt. "I told you, I’m always gonna be the guy who fights to find you again. Remember?”

She brings her hands up to cup his cheeks, every emotion under the sun hitting her at once. Pulling his face closer to hers, she kisses him fervently, longing to make up for lost time.

“Are you okay? Are you hurt anywhere?” Landon asks with they finally part, eyes skimming her form for any injuries. She shakes her head. “I’m fine. Really. Just glad to be home.”

“Oh my God, she is real.”

The two suddenly hear a female voice say from behind them, and Landon suddenly remembers that they're not alone. Hope tips her head in genuine surprise to see Lizzie Saltzman of all people out here. For a brief moment, she wonders if perhaps she wound up in some bizzaro alternate universe or something.

Coming over to get a better look, Lizzie eyes Hope up and down for a moment.

"So you're the famous Hope Mikaelson I've been stuck hearing about for months. You're shorter than I imagined." She announces, causing Hope to scrunch up her nose at the comment. Insults aside, she's missed the bitchy blonde, so she embraces her in an unexpected hug.

Lizzie makes a face, weirded out by the gesture, but she also finds herself smiling a little for some unexplainable reason. In his exuberance, Landon can't help but join in too, hugging them both. All this quickly pushes Lizzie past her weirdness threshold and she stiffens up.

"Alright, that's an ample amount of touching for one evening." The blonde declares, shoving them both off and proceeding to vigorously dust off her clothes as if she'd somehow been contaminated by them.

Hope and Landon chuckle at her reaction before naturally gravitating back into one another arms, which Lizzie finds rather sweet, but also fairly gag inducing.

"Okay. Enough with the gross PDA, weirdos. Let's get back already. It's gonna take forever since Landon lost my freakin shoe!"

Landon groans as Lizzie brings that topic back up again. Hope glaces down at Lizzie's foot before turning around for a moment.

"So I'm guessing this shoe belongs to you then?" Hope asks, bending down to pick up the boot off the ground to hand it to the blonde. Apparently that's what had hit her in the head on the way out of the pit, which explained why her skull was still so sore.

Lizzie’s eyes light up. "My shoe!" She quickly snatches from it the girl and clutches it close to her chest, glad to have it back. She slips the boot back onto her foot and beams down at the sight of having it back where it belongs.

"Guess we were both reunited with the things we love tonight." She announces, and Landon or Hope exchange a dry look with one another at the comment. Though neither of them were all that pleased by having their romance compared to that of a _shoe_ , the sentiment wasn't exactly wrong.

They still had a lot to figure out, like how to get everyone else's memories of Hope back. But with Landon by her side, she wouldn't have to go at it alone. And throughout all this, Landon had even managed to make a surprising new friend along the way.

"Wait, is that a **scuff mark**!?" Lizzie screeches out, utterly aghast, and Landon quickly grabs Hope's hand to make a mad dash back to the school.

"Hey!" The blonde shouts. "You get back here, bird boy! Don't make me kill you again!"

In hindsight, he might now regret that a little.


End file.
